A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of hinges, and more particularly to the art of drawn hinges for refrigerator doors.
B. Description of the Related Art
The present invention provides a new and improved hinge for refrigerator doors. The new hinge uses a drawing press to create the hinge, so that the hinge can be made of a thinner piece of metal while still retaining the strength of the thicker prior art. Also, the inventive hinge has a pin arm that extends further away from the center of the hinge than the prior art pin arm in order to prevent pinching when opening and closing the doors.
A known door hinge is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,619 to Koopman. The Koopman patent discloses a door hinge and closer mechanism, which includes a hinge unit, and a closer unit that are integral and a hinge plate of a hinge unit serves as a support for components of the closure unit. However, the Koopman patent does not disclose a drawn hinge, or any others features of the current invention.
Another known door hinge is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,740 to Gidseg et al. The Gidseg patent discloses a hinge for rotationally mounting a barrier member to structural means, which comprises first hinge mounting means having means for attachment thereof to the structural means. However, the Gidseg patent does not disclose a drawn hinge as described in the current invention.
Another known hinge is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,534 to Caruso. The Caruso patent discloses a refrigerator door hinge assembly including a refrigerator bracket and a door bracket, a first link pivotally connected to refrigerator bracket and the door bracket, a second link pivotally connected to the refrigerator bracket and the door bracket, the distance between the pivot connections or the second link being greater than the distance between the pivot connections of the first link, each of the first and second links being located in different but parallel plains and include a surface which engages an inner wall of the door bracket when the door is in a closed position thereby maintaining the parallel relation between the door and the refrigerator. However, the Caruso patent does not disclose a drawn hinge as disclosed in the current invention.
Another known hinge assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,954 to Keil. The Keil patent discloses an anti-pinch hinge assembly including a hinge butt mounted to a refrigerator cabinet having a generally planer section extending perpendicular to and outwardly from the cabinet. However, the Keil patent does not disclose a drawn hinge.
The drawing process, in order to create a shaped product from a flat piece of metal, is well known in the art, and will not be described herein. However, the use of the drawing process to create a hinge is not known in the art.
This invention is simple in design, effective in use, and overcomes the full growing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.
Drawing processxe2x80x94to spread or elongate metal by hammering or pulling through dies; also, to shape xe2x80x9cas plasticxe2x80x9d by stretching or by pulling through dies.
Hingexe2x80x94a jointed or flexible device on which a door, lid, or other swinging part turns.
In accordance with the present invention, a hinge for use with an associated refrigerator door includes a pin, a pin arm, the pin extending substantially 90xc2x0 with respect to the pin arm, receiving means for receiving connecting means for connecting the hinge to the associated refrigerator door, a first flange, a second flange, a first side, a second side, the first and second sides being substantially 90xc2x0 with respect to each other, the first and second flanges extending downwardly at substantially 90xc2x0 with respect to the first and second sides, a first length, and a second length, the first length being greater than the second length.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, a method for producing a thinner, more effective hinge, includes the steps of providing a substantially flat piece of metal, providing a hinge-shaped mold, the mold having first and second sides, the sides being substantially 90xc2x0 with respect to each other, protrusions, the protrusions creating the receiving means in the hinge, and first and second lengths, the first length being greater than the second length, providing a drawing press, drawing the hinge, inserting a pin into a pin arm, removing any excess metal from the hinge.
One advantage of the present invention is that the hinge can be made from a thinner piece of metal due to the drawing process.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the strength of the thinner hinge is the same as the thicker prior art hinges.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that the pin arm is extended in order to prevent pinching when the door is opened or closed.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the drawn hinge does not need to be reinforced with an extra piece of metal.
Still other benefits and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the following detailed specification.